As the crowd took their sits, Donnita Dampier, Executive Director of the Osceola County Historical Society addressed everyone with a welcoming opening statement. Donnita introduced President, Stacy McCland who gave her presidential address, encouraged guests to become Osceola County Historical Society members and introduced the guest speaker of the night, Chris Gent.

Chris Gent, Vice President of Corporate Communications for KUA gave educational presentation that enlightened the audience on the history of KUA.

A few fun facts of his presentation included:

1883 - Citizens of Allendale vote to incorporate after two elections; took the name Kissimmee City.

1891 - mayor J.C. Leak and city council appointed an electris light committee to look at the replacing smoky kerosene lamps.

2001 - KUA celebrates 100th anniversary; opens Cnae Island Unit 3.

Lisa Liu, Osceola County Historical Society Narcoosee Chapter President, went over highlights from the year. Their fundraising events resulted in an additional $11.8K in funds raised for the historic Narcoossee Schoolhouse restoration project. In June of 2016, the Chapter was awarded 2017 Small Matching Grant for $7,500 from the Florida Department of State Division of Historical Resources for the interior restoration of the schoolhouse. One year later, in June 2017, the interior of the schoolhouse was complete.

Volunteerswere recognized and praised for their ongoing support and time to the organization and awards were given to Board of Directors who went above and beyond their duties.

All in all, the Osceola County Historical Society’s 2016/2017 Annual Meeting was a huge success. We would like to thank everyone who took the time to join us and look forward to another extremely successful year in 2018!